were promoted in second place), and twenty behind league winners Notts County. Dagenham & Redbridge ended the season one point behind Rotherham United. Dagenham & Redbridge's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Morecambe with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place on 16 May 2010 at Victoria Road in Dagenham. Paul Benson scored the opening goal of the game after four minutes for Dagenham after Morecambe's goalkeeper Barry Roche pushed out Josh Scott's header. Scott then scored a 19-minute hat-trick to make it 4–0 with more than half an hour remaining. Benson scored his second and Dagenham's fifth midway through the second half; before Scott scored his fourth three minutes later. The match ended 6–0 and Dagenham became the first team to score more than five goals in the first leg of a league play-off semi-final. The second leg took place four days later at Christie Park in Morecambe. After a goalless first half, Mark Duffy's volley from close range made it 1–0 to Morecambe in the 81st minute before Benson headed in an equaliser four minutes later. One minute into stoppage time Dave Artell's header made the final score 2–1 to Morecambe, but Dagenham progressed to the final with a 7–2 aggregate win. Rotherham United faced Aldershot Town in their semi-final and the first leg was played on 15 May 2010 at the Recreation Ground in Aldershot. The home side's Marvin Morgan had the best chance of the first half but his shot was saved by the Rotherham goalkeeper Andy Warrington. Midway through the first half, Aldershot's goalkeeper Jamie Young was stretchered off with an injury and replaced by Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz. With two minutes of the match remaining, Adam Le Fondre intercepted a backpass from Aaron Brown and shot past Jaimez-Ruiz to secure a 1–0 win for the visitors. The second leg of the semi-final was held at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield four days later. Ian Sharps hit the Aldershot crossbar, but Le Fondre headed home the rebound from close range to give Rotherham the lead just before half time. Midway through the second half, Kevin Ellison's header from a Nicky Law cross beat Jaimez-Ruiz to make it 2–0 which was the final score. Rotherham won the tie 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final. Match Background This was Rotherham United's third appearance in the play-offs. They had suffered relegation to the fourth tier